Calhouns Banana Pudding

Where I live, there is a restaurant called Calhouns. It's not a national restaurant so they aren't everywhere. They have a dessert on their menu that is an absolute decadence. The first time I ordered it, I thought it would be some pudding, vanilla wafers and bananas. But what the waiter brought to my table was sooo much better. While it was a simple southern dessert - banana pudding,  they had definitely put a spin on it. Instead of pudding mix, they used cheesecake filling mix. Instead of vanilla wafers, they used white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies! It took me a while, but I got the recipe. So here it is...



Ingredients:

16 oz. Instant cheesecake filling
5 cups Milk
1 1/2 oz. Whipping cream
13 Macadamia Nut Cookies
5 Large bananas (peeled & sliced in 1/4" discs)
3 cups Chantilly cream

Directions:

Mix the instant cheesecake mix with milk and whole whipping cream
Refrigerate to set.

Break cookies into pebble sized pieces and line the bottom of a 2" line pan with 18 of them

Put the filling on top of the cookies spreading it evenly gently without shifting the crumbs

Evenly distribute banana slices over pudding
Break up seven more of the cookies and evenly distribute them over the banana slices
Top with Chantilly cream. Cover and refrigerate before serving


This recipe is so easy. You don’t need a degree in forensic science to figure it out. It's basically just building the layers. But it is sooo yummy! The recipes are common, everyday products. For those of you who don’t know what Chantilly cream is, let me explain. It is a French cream used to fill pastries. You only need three ingredients to make this cream: heavy cream, white sugar, and vanilla extract. Just put them in a mixing bowl and beat on high speed until soft peaks are formed.